Foreign companies with a presence in the Netherlands – particularly those from the US – are concerned about Dutch climate regulations and have expressed fears that policy on CO2 emissions are tighter here than elsewhere, according to the Financieele Dagblad.

Patrick Mikkelsen, director of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Netherlands (AmCham) told the paper it could be lucrative for companies to move abroad if Dutch ambitions for a greener climate saddles them with far higher costs than in other European countries.

‘Other countries are more competitive,’ he warned.

Reinier Gerrits of the Dutch chemicals sector lobby group VNCI said foreign firms would not be willing to invest in pipeline networks needed for transporting captured CO2, hydrogen and sustainable electricity.

‘We take the Paris agreement very seriously. We want to start up the transition. The important thing is we must remain competitive,’  Gerrits said.

Discussions on all levels are now taking place about the new Dutch climate policy with the Paris climate accord at the centre of the talks. The reduction of greenhouse gases is a key element,

The Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency said despite the booming economy the number and value of new foreign investment projects in the Netherlands fell last year for the first time since 2014.

US investment in the Netherlands declined by more than 22% last year while the number of jobs created by US-sourced projects was 32% lower, the NFIA said.